For the current coalition of conservatives and social democrats, the idea is accepted that granting funding to company pensions is a preventive, more effective, less costly and economically more dynamic way of combating the impoverishment of the elderly. This vision is conditioned by the growing financial imbalances in the financing of German retirement insurance, at a time when the large age groups of baby-boomers are only just beginning to reach retirement age.
Massively extending the second pillar of occupational pensions
On 25 July 2025, Germany’s labour and social affairs minister Bärbel Bas presented the draft ‘second law to strengthen occupational pension schemes’ (Zweites Gesetz zur Stärkung der betrieblichen Altersversorgung), drawn up jointly with German finance ministry (BMF).
As a Berlin correspondent for the French and Swiss press since the late 1990s, I cover a wide range of economic, political and social issues, with a particular focus on the German business and labour market. My areas of interest include co-determination, digitalisation, demographics and ESG/DEI policies.